1. The US Supreme Court yesterday rejected a request by the special counsel to expeditiously decide whether Donald Trump has immunity from federal prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, before a lower appeals court issued its own judgment. The one sentence denial means the case is returned to the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, where a three-judge panel is scheduled to hear oral arguments in January, and the case against Trump remains frozen pending the outcome of the appeal. In declining to leapfrog the lower court and fast-track the appeal, the Supreme Court handed a crucial and potentially far-reaching victory to Trump as he seeks to delay as much as possible his trial, currently scheduled for next March in federal district court in Washington. Amy Howe’s report on this is here. (Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com, theguardian.com, scotusblog.com)
2. The Federal Reserve is winning its fight over inflation, boosting Americans’ spirits and offering greater reassurance that the U.S. economy can avoid a recession while bringing prices under control. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the personal-consumption expenditures price index, fell 0.1% in November from the previous month, the first decline since April 2020, the Commerce Department said Friday. Prices were up 2.6% on the year, not far from the Fed’s 2% target. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, rose just 1.9% on a six-month annualized basis, suggesting the Fed is well on its way to reaching the target. (Source: wsj.com)
3. The misery index — the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate — is ending 2023 at 6.8%. That's its lowest point since the pandemic hit in March 2020 and well below the 8.3% average for the century to date. Unemployment and inflation are the two great causes of real (rather than merely vibes-based) economic misery. The double whammy wrought by COVID-19 — first a huge spike in unemployment, and then a big rise in inflation — now seems to be over, with both indicators reverting to low levels indicative of a healthy economy. (Source: axios.com)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Political News Items to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.